May 16, 2010
Source: Cumberland Times-News
Joyce Hedrick placed a drop of oil on the hand of each nurse and offered individual blessings.
“May the work of your hands bring healing to all the lives you touch,” Hedrick said Sunday afternoon during an interfaith service to bless the new Western Maryland Regional Medical Center.
About 70 people attended the 45-minute service, which included prayers in Sanskrit, Arabic, Hebrew and Spanish — from the Vedas, the Koran, The Talmud, the Bible.
During the “Blessing of the Hands” ceremony, about a dozen nurses in the hospital’s Parish Nursing Program received the ceremonial drop of oil, which was used as a base for medicines in ancient times, said Hedrick, coordinator of the Parish Nursing Program.